SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Lindsey Parnell
Tina Roche
John Campion
ASWELL AS REDUCING EMISSIONS, SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES CANIMPACT YOUR BOTTOMLINE AND OPENUPNEWREVENUE STREAMS INTHE PROCESS,WRITES LINDA DALY
year,out of a total of 70million tonnes produced in Ireland over- all.Two years ago, it decided it needed to get away fromfossil fuels and set a target of being carbon neutral by 2035. This was amajor statement for ESB,which also set targets of
a 50pc reduction in its emissions by 2020 and 30pc by 2012.At the time, the chief executive of the ESB also said the company would transformthe way it worked fromthe inside. “There was amessage fromthe very top of the company that
this was what we were going to be, and that we were committed to it,” says Campion,who was asked to lead that journey. Over the last two years,ESB has engaged in a very significant
culture change right across the organisation. The chief executive and directors developed a sustainability
charter, in partnership with staff, which lays out what the com- pany is doing and includes commitments fromtopmanagement to change how they work.For example,Campion gave up his car space and travels to work andmeetings via public transport. “It was hugely important that this initiative was led from the
top down. First of all, it’s clearly seen as a commitment by the chief executive that one of his own directors has been appointed to drive it for him. I and other directors are giving visible leader- ship in this area, and that really matters to the people who are looking to you,” says Campion. Parnell acknowledges that interest in the sustainability agenda
has waned slightly due to the economic recession. “Because a lot of companies are focused on survival, interest has
waned in those companies where sustainability was not as em- bedded.But the recessionwill go away and issues around sustain- ability and climate changewon’t,meaning interestwill rise again.” Parnell says sustainability can even help companies through the
downturn. “When it comes to being efficient and savingmoney, that’s not sustainability, it’s good business sense.Even if it tran- spires climate change is notman-made,we have to stop depend- ing on oil, and reducing our emissions is a way of getting off oil.”
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Tina Roche, chief executive, BITCI goes further by saying that sustainability can create business opportunities for small firms. “The big issue for Irish SMEs is that most big companies are
beginning to ask their supply chain about their sustainable prac- tices. Do you measure your carbon footprint, and what is your approach tominimising certain sources, for example?” Roche uses the example of the LondonOlympics,which req-
uires suppliers to have a sustainability status in order to evenmake a bid. “Such practices will have a trickle-down effect on all firms, as
a lot of procurement is now based around sustainable procure- ment.Smaller companies should look to themajor firms and ask what is important for that large company and how can we get involved in that,” she adds. Roche says the sustainability agenda also opens doors for small
firms to be truly innovative in the process. “There’s opportunity in sustainability for SMEs to future-
proof their business and to bring innovation to their clients and potential clients. “We need to rethink our products and ask what exactly we
need,what’s the best way of producing that and how we should minimise the costs economically, environmentally and socially,” she says. However, Parnell warns that companies shouldn’t just pay lip
service to green initiatives. “If you’re going to do it,you have to do it honestly,and not just
turn it into a PR exercise and marketing message.You’ve got to make real progress by doing real things.At the moment there is still competitive advantage in the marketplace to do it; I don’t think this is going to last forever because in the futuremost com- panies will be expected to do it.” Campion argues that sustainability is not just for large organi-
sations or semi-state bodies. “WhileESBis a big company,with 7,500 people, it is a collec-
tion of smaller companieswith depots all over the country.There are small numbers of people in those depots, and each has a sus- tainability improvement programme. “Some people might say it’s easy for ESB, a large organisa-
tion, to carry this out, but the reality is that nothing changes in any organisation, big or small, unless it changes with the peo- ple. No matter how small the business is, with no expenditure whatsoever, savings can be made.”
VOL 3 ISSUE 4 2010 OWNER MANAGER 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52